Tonegrid Pattern Builder

What it is for

The Pattern Builder turns plain text into music you can open and play. You write one line per note or drum: a label such as C4, D#4 or kick, followed by x for a hit and . for a rest. The builder checks every line against the key and scale you choose, then returns an editable Tonegrid project, a Standard MIDI File and a link that opens the pattern in the Tonegrid workspace.

It is handy when you want to sketch a groove without clicking squares, keep patterns in a text file, or let an AI agent compose through the JSON API or MCP. It does not render audio — open the link in Tonegrid to listen or export WAV and MP3 there.

Worked example

A blues riff in C: key 48 (C3), scale Blues, 96 BPM, 40% swing, sound Warm triangle, 4 repeats, and these lines:

G4  .... .... .... ..x.
F4  .... .... ..x. x...
D#4 .... ..x. x... ....
C4  x... x... .... ....
C3  x... .... x... ....
kick  x... .... x... ....
snare .... x... .... x...
hat   x.x. x.x. x.x. x.x.

The builder reports 9 melody notes and 12 drum hits on 16 steps each. With 16 rows in the blues scale the grid plays C3 to F♯5, so D#4 is row 9 and the root C3 is row 16. The pattern loops every 2.50 seconds, and the MIDI file with four repeats lasts 10.00 seconds. hat is accepted as a short name for the closed hi-hat, which lands on General MIDI key 42; kick is 36 and snare 38.

If you write F4 in the default C major pentatonic grid, the run stops with “Line 1: F4 is not one of the grid notes. This grid plays C3 to C6 in the chosen scale.” — F is simply not in that scale.

How to read the result

• Pattern metrics: melody notes, drum hits, the step count of each grid, the loop length and the MIDI file length in seconds.
• Melody rows used: row number (1 is the top), note name, MIDI number and how many hits each row has.
• Drum rows used: the drum, its General MIDI key and its hits.
• Download MIDI file and Download Tonegrid project: files valid for about two hours.
• Open in Tonegrid: a link with the whole project in the address; nothing is stored on the server.

When melody and drum lines have different lengths, the loop length is the full cycle until both line up again — 12 against 16 steps gives 48 steps.

Tips and common mistakes

• All melody lines need the same number of steps, and so do all drum lines; spaces and | are ignored, so group steps in fours for readability.
• Use sharps or flats freely: D#4, Eb4 and E♭4 are the same note.
• Pick the scale first, then the notes. A pentatonic or blues scale keeps clashes away; chromatic accepts every note but covers fewer octaves.
• Lines starting with # are comments, handy for labelling sections.
• Drum rows follow a fixed order (kick, snare, closed-hat, open-hat, clap, tom, rim, shaker); using shaker creates all eight drum rows.
• Swing delays every second step in the MIDI file too, so straight eighth-note hats become a shuffle.

FAQ

Can I write more than one pattern?

Not in one run. Build each pattern separately or open the first one in Tonegrid, then add patterns and a song arrangement there.

Which instruments does the MIDI file use?

Melody on channel 1 with a General MIDI program matching the chosen sound (for example celesta for Soft bell), drums on channel 10. Your music software decides how they sound.

Why is my note rejected?

It is outside the scale or above the highest row. Add rows, change the key or choose a scale that contains the note.

Is the link private?

The project is encoded in the link itself. Anyone with the link can open a copy, so share it like a file.